It seems that challenging times are coming for the fundraising world. Well, that depends on who you listen to. Some forecast that the unavoidable recession will strangle weaker charities, while others cry “stop making excuses”.

The economic slowdown, credit crunch and the consistent fall in property prices are squeezing legacy, corporate and special events income. Direct mail response rates aren’t going down but the environmental questions remain. Predicting the long term ROI from online investment is a minefield; payroll giving is stuck in the mud and face-to-face continues to live in interesting legal times.

So what can we do? Tighten your belts, share and pool our knowledge and development and look for cross marketing opportunities. But what about the bigger picture? Who is thinking about the size of the pie rather the size of their slice?

When attending conferences, seminars, or any networking opportunity I look for the industry leaders; MDs of agencies, fundraising directors and CEO’s of sector bodies speaking in an animated and serious huddle. Being exceptionally nosey, I always wonder what high level issues they are debating. While I do think they mean well, I’m not convinced that they are all working towards the same shared goals.

So who has the influence and impartiality to pull the strings of power and ease us out of our fundraising constraints? Conspiracy theories are a mixed bag, but I am always intrigued by the shadowy network of incredibly rich families and organisations, pulling strings to influence the global economy in their favour.

I think we need our own secret society of influencers. An uber-rich philanthropist who has the ear of many national and international not for profits, a politician who could get questions raised in both houses, a trustee who sittings on multiple boards to influence the strategies that drive the sector and a retired and loaded agency guru type to give a professional and impartial advice. But then again, they may already exist and be weaving their secretive magic over the sector. Now that would be juicy gossip!